Traveler loyalty and its antecedents in the hotel industry

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the intricate associations among the performance of ambient atmospherics, emotional experiences, overall image and guest satisfaction and test the influence of these relationships on loyalty intentions by considering the moderating impact of continuance commitment in the upscale hotel context.Design/methodology/approachA field survey was conducted to collect the data. A quantitative approach was used for data analysis. Structural equation modeling and a test for metric invariance were used to identify the impact of study variables.FindingsThe results of this paper indicated that the hypothesized relationships were in general significant, that the proposed theoretical framework satisfactorily predicted guests’ intentions to be loyal and that the role of satisfaction among study constructs was prominent. Findings from the test for metric invariance also showed that continuance commitment significantly affected the associations among emotional experiences, satisfaction and loyalty intentions. Moreover, emotional experiences, overall hotel image and guest satisfaction were found to play a significant mediating role in generating loyalty intentions.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper inform hotel practitioners of the clear role of atmospherics, emotional experiences, image, satisfaction and continuous commitment in building loyalty. In addition, these findings can help hotel practitioners and researchers invent thorough and strategic methods for loyalty enhancement.Originality/valueThe existing hotel literature has provided a limited view regarding the impact of these research variables. The present paper filled this research gap through the successfully development of a robust framework for hotel guest loyalty.